Thomas payne



@with ifri .gs'tmf @ffice .Letters Pat-rmt No. 80,005,V dated July 14,1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN BAILliOAD-S'TATION INDICA'IORS.l

Tritt Stimuli ruimt tu in time teirts timt mit irrt-ing wrt at it;nature'.

To Aritt-Wisch ITMAY coNoEnN:

l3e it known thatI, THOMAS PAYNE, `of Dctroit,`in.the county of Wayne,and the State of Michigan, have invented certain newandusofulImprovements in Railroad-Station Indicators; and do hereby declare thatv the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being hadto the accompanying drawings,

and to the letters of reference marked thereon. Y v

Themature'of my invention consists in au arrangement-of differentdevices inside of a passengerfrailway car, by which the name of eachstation, as well as, the distances, may be indicated to the passengersbef-ere arriving at' the same, giving those who intend to get ot' at thedierent stations ample time to prepare themselves, vas well as impartinga kind f information which is `always desired bythe travelling public. v

In order to enableothers skilled in thev art to make and use myinvention, I will now proceed to describe its construction andoperation, referring to the annexed drawings, which form a part of thisspecicatiomfand in which- Y Figure 1 is a vertical section of the top of'a railroad-car with my indicator attached.

Figures 2 and 3 are inside views of the works by which the indica-tor isoperated.

Figure 4 is a vertical 'section of the drum. A

Figure 5 shows the ribbon, with the naines, Ste., of the stationsthereon.A A

Figures 6 and r"are view s ofthe posts and armste be placed alongsideofthe track' to operate the indicator."

Figure 8 is a. front view of a slide that may bedsed in connection withthe indicator.` l.

Figure 9 isa vertical section of the top of 'a railway-car, showingadiil'erent drum from the one in iig. 1.

Figure 10 is an inside view of a. part ofthe works; and

Figure 11 is a side view vof the drum shown irl-fig. 9. y y

Figure 12 represents a plan view o f one side of the carsh owing theexterior arms and their springs;l

A represents the top ofa railroad-car of'a-ny construction or size, to.which my indieatormay be attached.-

` A shaft, a, passes across the car inside of said top, and has itsbearings 'in angular bars, D D, one en each side thereof, and the endsof thisrshaft are each provided witha circular disk, and cog-wheel, C,between the side of the top, A, and lthe angular bar, said wheels beingso placed 4that the cog-wheels are nearest Ato the angular bars. Theshaft a passes alsothrougha box or casing, O, which is suspended, bymeans of a stirrup,`g, from the roof of the car, I l

On thev ends of the shaft a, and-on each side of tho disk B, are slottedbars, E`E,`whieh are fastened together, forming a frame, whichislprovided-at each end with a. shoe, b, for` turning said disk. L

In the front end of the frame thus formed by the barsV E E, alever, F,is -pivoted, extending'doivnwards, ondoso arrangcd,fwith a lug orprojection at' the pont.where it's pivoted, that when turned or movedforward, it presses against the front shoc, (a, and tightening both the,shoes on the disk B, turns it, and with it the shaft/a. i v' The leverF is inovcd by means of an arm, N, whichA is. pivoted en the outside offthe-'roof of the car, one end extending through .a slot,`G, into thecarystriking the levertland the otherA extending suitable distancebeyond the side of the'car where it is operated, as will hereafterbedcscribed.

Above the cog-wheel C is a har,- I, whiehzis-pivoted in one' end, and.lprovided at the other witira Weight or spring, L. On said bar is-acorrugated adjustable clamp, K, the corrugations ot' whichit into thecog-wheel' .0, and' servo to hold said wheel, sot'nat-w'hen' the lever.F has turned the shaft a a certain distance, this clamp prevents it fromturning more than what it is designed to do.

The distance the shaft is to'bc turnedmay b e regulated by means of aslottedI stay, H, 'under the front l end of the frame formed bythe barsE E, so that. the lever F ean'be raised or lowered at will, therebycausingV thearm to strike it higher up er lower d own, whichever maybedesired. l

The top of the stay II provided with rubber, so that the bars E E, incomingdown on the same, willvnot strike too hard. I also apply asimilarstay, T, a suitable distance above the arm. I, to `prevent the same fromrising too high.

The works on each side ol" the car are alike, except that only one ofthe arms I is provided with a weight or spring-the other being attachedby a spring1 c, to a.bell, M, so that when moved the bell willbe struck,calling the attention ofthe passengers to the change on the indicator.They are also so arranged that when operated from o nc side, theshaftais turned in one direction, but when operated from the other side,it is turnedin the opposite direction.;v l, i

The casing O is shaped so 'as-to surround a cylinder, el, which isplaced inside of the same on the shaft a, which cylinder revolves withthe shaft.. The casing O turns downward under said cylinder, and hasaslot'or opening on each side, then bnlgcs outward again at the bottomto surround the roller o. l

A band or ribbon, e, is fastened n the cylinder (Z, and passes downward,guided by tho pins z'z'on to the roller o, which is turned by a spring,p, insuch' a manner that'when the shaft a is turned inone direction, theband unrolls from the cylinder, and said spring winds it up on theroller, and' when turned in the opposite direction, the cylinder takesitfrom the roller, thespring, however, at all times keeping it stretched,and in thelatter case being wound up by the ribbon. On both sides of theband e the names ofthe stations are placed in regular order, with thedistance from the terminus of the road marked at eachend, so that eachname will come in rotationat thc opening in the drum. v

Above said openings, on the outsideof the easing, I place the words, Thenext station is,"'and below, the names of the termini of the rond, sothat the passengers may see at a glance how far a station is from eachend of the road. v Y

To operate the indicator thus constructed, I'plaoc alongside of thetrack, a little beyond each station, a post, R, with an arin, S,extending ait-right angles towards the track, and so arranged that theend of said arm will strike the projecting arm N on the car, and, by themovement of the works already described, thu-s lturn the ribbon e suliciently to change the name at the opening in thecasing, and give thealarm at't'he same time. The arm -N is providedwithtwo 1ugs,`r rkon itsupper side, which enclose a circular rod, s, fastened to the roof of thecar, and on each side of the arm around said rod is a spiral spring, h,which serves to bring the arm N out again in its proper position, andprevents any wabbling or lost-motion. As the trainpasscs beyond eachstation, the name|on the casing is thus changed, and when the trainreturns, the posts on the other side of: the track, and at the otherside ofeaeh station, operate the arm N on the other side ofthe car,turning the ribbon back, by the movement-already described, the formerpost of course striking the first arm, N, but in the opposite directionfrom the leverF, so that itdees not aiect the indicator. .A

The arm S is fastened to the post R bymeans of screw-bolts m m and nutsc 1c, working in` slots on said arms, as shown in fig. 6, and betweenthe post and arm, around' said bolts, are spiral springs n it, to allowthe arm to give .slightly when striking the arm N. Any kind of springsmay be used for this purposei The indicator maybe operated, instead ofwith these posts and arms, by ropes or wires attached to the outer endsof the arms N N, and so placed that'they can easily be pulled by theconductor or other person designated to tendl to thesume. f

Instead of using the casing O with cylinder, roller, and ribbon, I canuse a large drum, Q, fastened to the shaft a, and on the outsideperiphery of which the names of the stations, Ste., are marked twice inregular order, so that each name appears in rotationon cach side4 ofthe, casing?, in which I enclose said drum, this casing being fastenedto the roof of the cnr, and slotted, to show the names, (see figs. 9 and11.)

But in this case a largercog-wheel, C,'must be substituted, as it willrequire a very small fraction of a revolution of the shaft a tochange-the name at the opening in thecasing'.

Should there be too many stations von the road to get them all o n thedrum, I place two names on'each line, or I place two drums in the casinghaving the names alternate from one to. the other, but in'both casescovering part ofthe openings in the casing with a slide, f, as shown iniig. 8, which slide must, however, be movedbackwards and forwardsbyhand.v

By this invention the passenger never is at a lossto know the name ofthcnext station, as it is'constantly before his eyes, and warning isgivenhim of every change of station by the striking of a bell. Itobviates` danger of being conveyed past the stopping-place of apassenger unawares, and thetro'uble offrequ'ent inquiry of passengers oremployees as to distance or localities. It can be attached to eachpassenger-ear at a'small cost, and furnishes an ornamental as well asuseful improvement.

Having thus fully described my. invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is'-' 1. The arms N N, arrangedas'descri'bed, on the roof of a car, and provided with ears 1' 1', toguide them along the circular' rodss s, in combination with the spiralsprings z L, on said rods, to prevent any'wabbiing or lost motion,substantially as a-nd for thepurposes herein set forth. l

2. The slotted bars E E, forming a frame, and placed on the shaft a, oneach side of the 'circular disk B, in combination with'the shoes b b andlevers F F, for the purpose of turning the shaft in either direction,`substantiaily'as and for the purposes herein set forth. I

3. The arms I I pivoted at one end, one having a weight or spring, L,attached to the other end, and the other .attached to a bell or alarm,M, by means of a spring, e, 4and both provided with adjustablecorrugated clamps, K K, in combination with the cog-wheels c c, whenarranged and operating substantially as and'for the purposes hereinset'forth.

4. The slotted .stays l-I and T, when arranged seas to regulate themovement of the cg-wheelsc e, substantially as and for the purposesherein setter-th.,

5. A drum, constructed as described, `for the purpose 'of indicatingnames, figures, or characters, suspended in a car, and operatingsubstantially as set forth. i

6. The cylinder d and roller o, in combination with the springp andribbon e, whenarranged as described, so that when said cylinderisrevolving in one direction, .the spring winds up the ribbon'on theroller, and'when revolving in the opposite` direction, the `ribbonunvinls from the' roller ami winds up the spring, substantially as and`for the purposes herein 'set forth.V

7. The arms S S, when attached to the posts' R in the manner'described,with springs i1. n, to soften or lcssenthe blow, and used forthe purposeof making the station-indicator self-operating from any station ordirection, substantially as lieren set forth, l

8.A The arrangement of the circular disk B. and its'cog-Wheel C, thebars I D, lever F, bars E E, and shoes b b, whenl c'onstructed'andoperating substantially as set forth.-

,9. The arrangement of fthe arms N N, and :their springs, when 'operatedby them-ms SIS upon th *posts4 R R, substantially as specified. Y

In testimony that I'clam the foregoing, Iv'have heeunto'set ny houd,this 18th day of June, 1 868.

THOS. PAYNE.

Witnesses:

J. M. MAsoN, C. M. ALEXANDER.-

